Apparatus for high temperature semiconductor processing

Claim 1

A furnace for processing semiconductor wafers comprising: A. a rectangular quartz tube having opposed top and bottom horizontally planar walls transparent to radiant heat with a. the internal height between said walls being in the range of about 3/16 to about 1 inch, b. the internal width between the side walls of said tube being in the range of about 1 1/3 to about 20 inches, with B. a support plate opaque to radiant heat slidably insertable and removeable into and from said tube in parallel relationship to said top and bottom walls and having a vertical thickness in the range from about one sixteenth to about one fourth inches for supporting said wafers planarly equidistant from said top and bottom with a. the top surface of said wafers disposed in parallel relationship to said top and bottom walls and at a distance in the range of about one eighth from said top wall to about three fourth inch; b. the ratio of said distance to said width being in the range of about 1:1 to about 1:25; c. gas inlet means for injecting a processing gas in said tube; D. gas diffuser means for constraining an injected gas in even flow through and across said tube having at least one said wafer disposed therein on said support; E. first and second planar radiant heat diffuser means juxtaposed externally in parallel relationship on respective ones of said top and bottom walls; F. means for heating said first and second diffuser means to radiant heat; G. an insulating mass of about 15 to about 34 pounds surrounding said tube and said elements E and F with said mass having a thermal conductivity of in the range of about 0.08 to about 0.11 Btu/Hr-Ft-* F.